1

Musical Compositions of Tyāgarāja in Dēśādi tāḷā and Madhyādi tāḷa,

and their Adaptation to Ādi tāḷa.
– Dr. K Harish Narayan

Tyāgarāja, one among the Musical Trinity of Karṇāṭak music was the pioneer in popularizing the
trend of composing compositions set to Dēśādi and Madhyādi tāḷa-s. His style of composing Kīrtana-s
in these tāḷa-s has inspired many of his disciples and other composers who belong to his lineage. The
structure of compositions in this tāḷa-s is a signature bāṇi of Tyāgarāja Śiṣya parampara. Dēśādi and
Madhyādi are names of 'two' tāla-s in which some kīrtana-s of Tyāgarāja, Jāvaḷi-s and Tillānā were set.
However in the 20th century these songs have been generally sung adapted to Ādi tāḷa. This paper
questions whether Dēśādi and Madhyādi are really two tāla-s or one tāla with differences in point of
commencement, the point of melodic accent and in the number of sāhitya syllables accommodated in
a time unit. The paper also examines the manner in which the songs set in these tāla-s have been
adapted to Ādi.

1 Dēśādi-tāla and Madhyādi tāḷa:

A M Cinnasvāmi Mudaliyār (1893:41) regards Dēśādi and Madhyādi as variations of Āditāla.
According to him, "What is usually termed the ĀDI TĀḶA which corresoponds to the common or even
time in European Music, is really the TRIPUṬA genus of the CHATURAṢRa species; but as the
TRIPUṬA has been appropriated in common usage to denote the seven-unit-measure of the TRIṢRA
species, the term ĀDI has been borrowed from the long list of 108 TĀḶAS reckoned by MĀTRĀS. There
are a few varieties in the ĀDI TĀḶA which might be mentioned here; viz. (a) MADHYĀDI in which the
musical phrase generally terminates with the first half of the ĀVARTA, a fresh phrase or a variation of
the first one being taken up at the second half of it. (b) DĒṢĀDI, in which the first three AKSHARAS of
a melody fall on rests, but re-appear regularly at the commencement of each succeeding ĀVARTA, so
that every musical phrase invariably begins on the 4th note of the first bar in each ĀVARTA; another
peculiarity in the rhythm of this measure is that the first and fourth notes in each bar are short and the
central one generally long: (vide melodies in the first issue.)"
In the above statements of Mudaliyār some inconsistencies are met with.
a) Ādi-tāla corresponding to Common time would be similar to 4-4, four crochets or quarter note
syllables to a bar.
b) But Caturaśra-tripuṭa tāla would have 8 beats or 8 kriyā-s.
b) The term Ādi 'borrowed from 108 Tāla-s' would denote a tāla with one Laghu time-unit or one mātrā.
At best that could be enlarged as four units with one saśabda-kriya followed by three niḥśabda
kriyā-s.
In other words Mudaliyār does not clearly specify the form of or the mode of rendering the Dēśadi
or the Madhyādi tāla. What one can infer is that the mode of rendering the two seems to similar. From
the notation of a song set in Dēśādi we gather that there are four bars or aṅga-s in the tāla.
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For instance, the song, 'nannu brōva' in the rāga Ābhōgi and in Dēśādi tāla has been notated by
Cinnasvāmi Mudaliyār (106) thus.

na | nnu brō . va | nī . . kin | ta tā . ma ||

| | | ||
sa mā . | | | ||
In the course of giving tāla details, although he describes Dēśādi as having a '4+2+2' or a '4+4' or
simply as Dēśādi, from the four bara structure to an āvarta, we can infer that he is having a four kriyātime
structure in mind.
There are three kīrtana-s set in Madhyādi tāla that Mudaliyār has notated, namely, 'vidulaku
mrokkeda' (1893:59) 'kalinarulaku' (Kuntalavarāḷi) (99) and 'ennaḍu jūtunō' (Kalāvati) (118).

Madhyādi -
. . vi du . . la ku . | mrō . . . . ke dā . ||
. . vi du . . la ku .

.. ka li . na ru . | la . ku . . ma hi . |
. . ma lu . de li . | pē . .. .. mi . ||

.. en . . na ḍu . | jū . . . . tu nō . |
.. i na . ku la . | ti . la . ka . . . ||

In the notation of the pallavi of these three songs in Madhyādi given above, the placement of two
vertical lines also is confusing. One would expect them to mark the end of the āvarta. But Mudaliyar
and even Subbarāma Dīkṣitar place them to mark the end of the Pāda ending or the sāhitya division
within a Pallavi, Anupallavi and Caraṇa and not necessarily āvarta.
For instance, if we take the single vertical line, normally denoting the end of an aṅga, then the
commencement point of the syllables, 'vidu', 'kali' and 'en' would be after ¼ mātrā and not ½ mātrā. So
the actual proper organisation of the song should be as follows.

Madhyādi -
V | T | T | T || V | T | T | T ||
. . - vi du | . la ku . | mrō . . . | . ke da . || . . - vidu | . la ku . | mrō . . . | . ke da . ||
..- | | | || | | | ||
. . - ka li | . na ru | la . ku . | . ma hi . || . .- malu | . de li . | pē . . . | . . mi . ||
..- | | | || | | | ||
. . - en . | . na ḍu . | jū . . . | . tu nō . || . . - i na | . ku la . | ti . la . | ka . . . ||
..- | | | || | | | ||
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In short both Dēśādi and Madhyādi based kīrtana structures suggest a single tāla with four kriyā-s,
one of which must obviously be a niḥśabda-kriyā. If all the four kriyā-s were to be one kind of saśabda
kriyā, namely, a ghātam, then it would be difficult to make out the structure of the tāla.
The Āditāla to which T V Subba Rao (1962:97-99), in his article 'Deśādi and Madhyādi Tālas', traces
the two tāla-s is not very clear. "Ādi tāla is the oldest of tālas. It is for that reason called ādi or the first
tāla. It consists of eight units." Again as pointed out above, the ancient Ādi had one mātra, or say, four
units and not eight.
But Subba Rao later makes a very important statement, "Thus the practice of rendering the ādi tāla
in madhyamakāla by a beat, a wave and two beats became somewhat popular towards the middle of
eighteenth century. As this mode of rendering in the continued sequence resembled the trital of North
Indian music which consists of three beats and a wave, it came to be known as deśya ādi or deśādi
tāla." However he tries to equate this four beat tāla to the modern ādi when he continues, "To describe
the deśādi tāla as consisting of only four units for the simple reason that the eye sees only four
movements of the hand, would be incorrect."
Notwithstanding Subba Rao's attempts to relate the four kriyā Dēśadi to the eight kriyā-s of Ādi,
what is of importance is the connection he makes between Dēśādi and the Tritāla or Tīnatāla of
Hinudstāni Music, both being manifested by four kriyā-s. The Tritāla in Hindustāni,as the name signifies,
has three <tri, tīna) Tāli kriyā-s (saśabda - taṭtu / ghātam-s) and the fourth being a Khāli (niḥśabda -
vīccu / visarjitam). Reṅganāthayyar (1922:6) in his Saṅgītarājaraṅgam, refers to this format of tāla as
Hindustani Ādi-tāla, with the kriyā sequence being taṭtu-viccu-taṭtu-taṭṭu.
However in Hindustāni Tritāla the sequence of kriyā-s is two taṭtu-s, one vīccu and one taṭṭu, as
shown below.

1a Tri-tāla: Duration - 16 mātrā-s.

Mātrā 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Kriyā X X O X
Bōla dhā dhin dhin dhā dhā dhin dhin dhā dhā tin tin tā tā dhin dhin dhā

It is perhaps with a view to keep away the confusion of 4 unit ādi and 8 unit ādi associated with
Dēśādi, that Subbarāma Dīkṣitar assigns the name 'Caturaśra-ēka' in Saṅgīta-sampradāya-pradarśini
and simply 'Ēka' while notating kīrtana-s set in Dēśadi. For instance, in Prathamābhyāsa-pustakamu
the kīrtana, 'nannubrōva' (Āhōgi) is notated in the manner shown below.

. . . r | g gr r r | s , , ḍ | s r g mg ||
na | nnu brō . va | nī . . kin | ta tā . ma ||
gr r , | | | ||
sa mā . | | | ||
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The trouble with such a representation is that the tāla would have one taṭṭu and three vīccu-s as
against the three taṭṭu and one vīccu structure and also the commencement of the song would be on
the fourth quarter of the taṭṭu.
Sāmbamurti (1964:105-106) is quite categorical when he states "The Desādi and Madhyādi tālas
consist of 4 counts each, for an āvarta and are reckoned with a visarjita (wave of the hand) and three
beats.
Thus it is clear that the two names 'Dēśādi' and 'Madhyādi' denote the differing formats of
composition set-up in the same tāla structure. We have two contrasting instances relating to the tāla
Miśra-cāpu.
a) If we take the example of Miśra-cāpu we find that it has sections with 3+4 or 3+2+2 as the normal
proportional time durations. Citing the example kīrtana-s of Śyāma Śāstri,Sāmbamūrti (1964:104)
refers to a version Miśra-cāpu with the sequence 4+3 as 'Vilōma-Cāpu'. However we do not seem
to come across any old books using this tāla name.
b) Another instance is that, in Miśra-cāpu we find kīrtana-s 'mari vēre gati' (Ānandabhairavi, Śyāma
Śāstri) having a sama-graha and kīrtana-s like 'pakkala nilabaḍi' (Kharaharapriya) and ''manasu
svādhīna' (Śaṅkarābharaṇa) having a recurring anāgata-graha of 2/7, yet the tāla carries only one
name and not two.
However if would be appropriate if the miśra-cāpu versions in the two cases could have some
distinguishing prefixes. In the case of Dēśādi and Madhyādi too, better distinguishing nomenclature
could have been conceived.
Subba Rao (1962:99) also takes Dēśādi to be the name of the tāla and Madhyādi name denoting
only a variation in the song-setting format when he says, "The reason for giving the separate name of
madhyādi to a tāla of the same kriyā s as deśādi is to indicate the difference of the unusual eḍuppuof
the anupallavi and the charaṇa." (The latter point will be discussed below.)
Now we shall take up the organisation of songs in the two formats, Dēśādi and Madhyādi.

2 Structure of Music: in Dēśādi format

With regard to the organisation of songs in the Dēśādi format, Cinnasvāmi Mudaliyār had two points
to make
a) ". . . the first three AKSHARAS of a melody fall on rests, but re-appear regularly at the commencement
of each succeeding ĀVARTA, so that every musical phrase invariably begins on the 4th note of the first
bar in each ĀVARTA;
This is clear in the example given below, where there is rest for a duration of three-quarters of the
first mātrā commencing on a Vīccu. (cf. RithaRajan 1999:56-57)
na | nnu brō . va | nī . . kin | ta tā . ma ||
| | | ||
sa mā .- nā | pai nē . ra | mē . . mi | . bal . ku ||
| | | ||
mā | | | ||
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This is clearly seen in the following example:

en | ta vē . ḍu | kon . . du | . rā . gha ||
| | | ||
vā . .- pan | ta mē . la | rā . . ō | . rā . gha ||
| | | ||
vā | | | ||

In the above examples we also observe that there is a three-quarter rest at the commencement of
the third kriyā too.
The structure of the popular Masītakhāni Gata of Hindustani Instrumental Music, mainly Sitāra, set
to Tri-tāla or Tīna-tāla1. The Gata is also said to commence on the 12th mātrā.

X | X | O | X ||
sk | sk | nk | sk ||
di ra | dā di ra dā rā ||
dā dā rā - di ra | dā di ra dā rā | dā dā rā - | ||

We observe two identical halves of 8 mātrā-s in the gata, the first half commencing on the 12th
mātrā and the second one on the 4th. This is the format that is visible in the kīrtana-s set to Dēśādi-
format as mentioned above.
Some of the Khyāla compositions set in Tritāla, in medium tempo, too seem to be set in the above
format, as seen in the example in rāga Kāmōda, (OmkarnāthThākur 1958:56).
X | X | O | X ||
sk | sk | nk | sk ||
jā | nē na dūṅ . ||
gī . .- rī | mā . yī . | mā . yī - | ||

b) Regarding the compositions set in Dēśādi tāla Mudaliyār adds one more point."Another peculiarity
in the rhythm of this measure is that the first and fourth notes in each bar are short and the central one
generally long."The following examples bear this out. But we also see that, the first and fourth syllables
being short and the second one being long pertains, more to the second and fourth bārs or mātrā-s and
not to all.
| I S I | | I S I ||
na | nnu brō . va | nī . . kin | ta tā . ma ||
sa mā . | | | ||
| | | ||
. . . en | ta vē . ḍu | kon . du | . rā . gha ||

1
http://www.nadsadhna.com/pages/indianmusic/IndianInstruments.asp?About=Sarod
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vā . . | | | ||
| | | ||
ra | ghu nā . ya | ka . . nī | . pā . da ||
yu ga . | | | ||

Ritha Rajan (1999:57-59) has discussed this greater detail and also pointed out cases where the
feature is not incorporated.
The metre or the chandam of the sāhitya syllables also suggests that instead of viewing it as 'ta-
dīm-ta' (I-S-I) within a bar or mātrā, it should be seen as recurring metre of 'ta-ta-dīm' (I-I-S) from the
point of commencement of music with the accent of the music and the accent of the tāla not coinciding
as illustrated belo.
I I S - I I S - I I S - I
ta | ta dīm . ta | ta dīm . ta | ta dīm . ta ||
I S - | | | ||
ta dīm . | | | ||

The metre or the chandam of the sāhitya syllables also suggests that instead of viewing it as 'ta-
dīm-ta' (I-S-I) within a bar or mātrā, it should be seen as recurring metre of 'ta-ta-dīm' (I-I-S) from the
point of commencement of music with the accent of the music and the accent of the tāla not coinciding
as illustrated belo.
__ __ __
I I I I I I I I I I I I I
tām | ta dīm . ta | tām . . tām | ta dīm . ta ||
I I I | | | ||
tām . . | | | ||

__ __
I I I I I I I I I I I I I
tā | . dīm . ta | tām . . tā | . dīm . ta ||
I I I | | | ||
tām . . | | | ||

__ __
I I I I I I I I I I I I I
ta ta | ta dīm . ta | tām . . ta ta | ta dīm . ta ||
I I I | | | ||
tām . . | | | ||

3 Structure of Music in Madhyādi format:

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Regarding musical setting in Madhyādi, Chinnasvami Mudaliyār says, ". . . the musical phrase
generally terminates with the first half of the ĀVARTA, a fresh phrase or a variation of the first one being
taken up at the second half of it."
The modified notation of the pallavi-s of the three kīrtana-s can be seen below.

Madhyādi -
V | T | T | T || V | T | T | T ||
. . - vi du | . la ku . | mrō . . . | . kke da . || . . - vidu | . la ku . | mrō . . . | . ke da . ||
..- | | | || | | | ||
. . - ka li | . na ru . | la . ku . | . ma hi . || . .- malu | . de li . | pē . . . | . . mi . ||
..- | | | || | | | ||
. . - en . | . na ḍu . | jū . . . | . tu nō . || . . - i na . ku la . ti . la . ka . . . ||
..- | | | || | | | ||

In the above notation we do not see the musical phrase terminating in the first half of the tāla āvarta
but at the end of it. It is only when one attempts placing the structure in the normal Ādi-tāla format that
the musical phrase is seen to terminate in the first half of the āvarta as shown below.

Ādi -
|4 | O |O ||
T 1 2 3 | T V |T V ||
. . - vi du . la ku . mrō . . . . kke da . | . . - vidu . la ku . | mrō . . . . ke da . ||
..- | | ||
. . - ka li . na ru . la . ku . . ma hi . | . .- malu . de li . | pē . . . . . mi . ||
..- | | ||
. . - en . . na ḍu . jū . . . . tu nō . | . . - i na . ku la . | ti . la . ka . . . ||
..- | | ||

It is in the above case of the kīrtana-s being notated in a normal Ādi-tāla time span, that "a fresh
phrase or a variation of the first one being taken up at the second half of it", as mentioned by Mudaliyār
is seen to materialise.

4 Musical Accent / Padagarbham:Dēśādi format

Sāmbamūrti (1964:105) points out another feature, "In the Desādi tāla, the second beat is accented
or stressed. In other words, the padagarbham falls on the second beat. In the Madhyādi tāla, this is not
the case."Normally in Karṇāṭaka music tāla-s, 'Padagarbham' is rarely seen to be associated with the
form of a tāla but only with a musical form, and that too with the Pallavi form. The notation of the pallavi
of 3 kīrtana-s discussed above is being reproduced below.

V | T | T | T ||
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na | nnu brō . va | nī . . kin | ta tā . ma ||

sa mā .- nā | pai nē . ra | mē . . mi | . bal . ku ||
mā . . | | | ||

. . . en | ta vē . ḍu | kon . du | . rā . gha ||
vā . .- pan | ta mē . la | rā . . ō | . rā . gha ||
vā . . | | | ||

ra | ghu nā . ya | ka . . nī | . pā . da ||
yu ga . rā | . jī . va | mula nē . vi | ḍa jā . la ||
śrī . . | | | ||

Since Sāmbamūrti describes the Dēśādi as manifested by a "Visarjita (wave of the hand) and three
beats", we gather that the Padagarbham was on the the second saśabda kriyā or the second Taṭṭu. In
the above examples, if we take the pallavi-s commencing ¾-mātrā after the execution of the Vīccu, then
we observe the padagarabham or the musical accent on second Taṭṭu. However we also observe a
padagarbham on the Vīccu relating to the next āvarta. e.g., on 'nī', 'sa', 'mē' and 'mā' in the pallavi of
the kīrtana 'nannu brōva' and on 'kon', vā', 'rā' and 'vā' in 'enta vēḍukondu'. Thus the padagarbham
seems to be inseparably connected with the ¾ mātrā rest or elongation that is seen on the second Taṭtu
and then on the first Vīccu of the next āvarta.
This feature of accent or padagarbham also seems to draw from the musical organisation in the
Masītakhāni-gata compositions of Sitāra, set to Tritāla in Hindustāni music.
Ritha Rajan (1999:63) mentions a few Jāvalī-s set in Dēśādi format, namely, 'muṭṭavaddurā'
(Sāvēri), which also display the feature of padagarbham (BrindaT 1981:82).

5 Musical Accent / Padagarbham:Madhyādi format

Sāmbamūrti, as quoted above, speaks of the absence of padagarbham in the Madhyādi format.
However we do find a padagarbham in the songs set in the Madhyādi format.

Madhyādi -
V | T | T | T || V | T | T | T ||
. . - vi du | . la ku . | mrō . . . | . kkeda . || . . - vidu | . la ku . | mrō . . . | . ke da . ||
..- | | | || | | | ||
. . - ka li | . na ru | la . ku . | . ma hi . || . .- malu | . de li . | pē . . . | . . mi . ||
..- | | | || | | | ||
. . - en . | . na ḍu . | jū . . . | . tu nō . || . . - i na . ku la . ti . la . ka . . . ||
..- | | | || | | | ||

In the above pallavi-s of the three kīrtana-s, the padagarbham is felt on the third kriyā or the second
Taṭṭu, for instance, on the sāhitya syllables, mrō, la, pē, jū and ti, shown as bold. The sense of
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padagarbham is strong because, as we observe, it is only in the second Taṭṭu that a sāhitya syllable
coincides with a tāla kiryā. In all other bars /aṅga-s the commencing syllable is ½ or ¼ mātrā moved
away from the kriyā.
In the case of Jāvaḷi, however, the padagarbham is generally seen to be on the fourth kriyā or the
third Taṭṭu as seen in the example from 'apadūru' (Kamāsa rāga) given below (BrindaT 1981:1-3).

Madhyādi -
V | T | T | T || V |T |T |T ||
. . – a pa | dū. ru ku | lō . nai ti | nē . . . || . . – ca pa | la ci . tta | mu cē . da | nē . . . ||
. .- na pa | | | || | | | ||

The Tillānā composition in Jinjhōṭi rāga composed by Maisuru Vīṇā Śēṣaṇṇa appears to be set in the
Madhyādi format and displays a padagarbham similar to that seen in the above Jāvaḷi.
Madhyādi -
V | T | T | T || V |T |T |T ||
. .–dhi ra | nā . . ta | na dīm.ta | dhira na. || . .–dhi ra | nā . . ta | na dīm.ta | dhira na. ||
. .–dhi ra | | | || | | | ||

The reason why Sāmbamūrti felt there was no padagarbham in the Madhyādi format might have
been because, in the Ādi tāla setting, the accent would come on the second finger count. Now, normally
the padagarbham or arudi is associated with a Taṭṭu or the Taṭṭu of the Druta. And in the case of the
Ādi-tāla format as shown below, there is no sāhitya syllable coinciding with the Taṭtu kriyā of the first
Druta. But as pointed earlier, since Madhyādi format is also set in 3 Taṭṭu-s and Vīccu, the accent on
second Taṭṭu has to be recognised as a Padagarbham.

Ādi -
|4 O O
T 1 2 3 T V T V
. . - vi du . la ku . mrō . . . . kke da . | . . - vidu . la ku . | mrō . . . . ke da . ||
..- | | ||
. . - ka li . na ru la . ku . . ma hi . | . .- malu . de li . | pē . . . . . mi . ||
..- | | ||
. . - en . . na ḍu . jū . . . . tu nō . | . . - i na . ku la . | ti . la . ka . . . ||
..- | | ||

6 Sāhitya syllables:Distribution in Dēśādi and Madhyādi formats

Sāmbamūrti also adds "Compositions in Dēsādi and Madhyādi talas are in chitra tama marga." His
definition of the Tāla-prāṇa Mārga (1963:170-172) is not very clear. In the course of the description he
again states, "Kritis in Desādi tala and Madhyadi tala are in chitrarama marga" (172). The understanding
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seems to be that there is average distribution of two hrasva or one dīrgha syllable in a time unit. An
examination of this reveals something slightly different.

6.1 Dēśādi:
Dēśādi -
V | T | T | T ||
na | nnu brō . va | nī . . kin | ta tā . ma ||
sa mā .- nā | pai nē . ra | mē . . mi | . bal . ku ||
mā . . | | | ||

In the Dēśādi format, there seem to be an average of 4 short /hrasva syllables in one bar / aṅga.
But when the kīrtana is set in the Ādi-tāla format then we see 2 hrasva syllables per mātrā or time-unit
that would equate it to Citratama-mārga of Sambamūrti.
|4 | O | O ||
T 1 2 3 | T V | T V ||
. . . na nnu brō . va | nī . . ki | nta tā . ma . ||
sa . . ma . . | | ||

6.2 Madhyādi:
In the Madhyādi format we observe a distribution of two hrasva syllables per time unit, as per the
example below.

Madhyādi -
V | T | T | T || V | T | T | T ||
. . - vi du | . la ku . | mrō . . . | . kke da . || . . - vidu | . la ku . | mrō . . . | . ke da . ||
..- | | | || | | | ||
. . - ka li | . na ru | la . ku . | . ma hi . || . .- malu | . de li . | pē . . . | . . mi . ||
..- | | | || | | | ||

And even when set in the Ādi-tāla format the distribution of syllables is retained, since one āvarta
of Ādi accommodates two āvarta-s of the Madhyādi format.
Ādi -
|4 O O
T 1 2 3 T V T V
. . - vi du . la ku . mrō . . . . kke da . | . . - vidu . la ku . | mrō . . . . ke da . ||
..- | | ||
. . - ka li . na ru la . ku . . ma hi . | . .- malu . de li . | pē . . . . . mi . ||
..- | | ||
 11

However Jāvali-s set in Madhyādi format have an average of 4 hrasva akṣara-s (4 syllabic units),
per time unit as seen in the earlier example cited again below.

Madhyādi -
V | T | T | T || V |T |T |T ||
. . – a pa | dū. ru ku | lō . nai ti | nē . . . || . . – ca pa | la ci . tta | mu cē. da | nē . . . ||
. .- na pa | | | || | | | ||

7 Dēśādi tāḷa: Mode of Rendering

7.1 Views of Scholars:
From the book of Cinnasvāmi Mudaliyār, except for getting the valuable information about the
organisation of kīrtana-s, we are not able to get an idea about the mode of rendering the tāla, namely,
regarding the saśabda and niḥśabda kriyā-s and the sequence of rendering them. Subba Rao and
Sāmbamūrti have differing description.
According to Subba Rao (1962:98),"The more important characteristic is the kriyā of three beats and a
wave. The madhyādi tāla is identical with deśādi tāla in kriyā and aṅga; that is, it has also three beats
and a wave."
And Sāmbamurti's (1964:105) states, "The Desādi and Madhyādi tālas . . . are reckoned with a
visarjita (wave of the hand) and three beats" the mode of rendering is clear.
7.2 From Āditāḷa adapted format:
One of the ways to deduce the mode, is to study the way Dēśādi and Madhyādi formats have been
adapted to the Ādi-tāla time span. For instance, K V Śrīnivāsa Ayyaṅgār (1922a:324-330) mentions Ādi-
tāla for the kīrtana 'nannu brōva' (Ābhōgi) and notates it as presented below.
Ādi-tāḷa
|4 | O | O ||
T 1 2 3 | T V | T V ||
sk nk nk sk | sk nk | sk nk ||
. . . na nnu brō . va | nī . . ki | nta tā . ma . ||
sa . . ma . . | | ||

The sequence of the eight kriyā-s of Ādi-tāḷa is - T – finger1 – f2 – f3 – T – V – T – V. If in the Ādi-

tāḷa,we hide the niḥśabda kriyā-s which function as temporal extensions for the 8-kriyā time span and
reduce the tāla to a four kriyā tāla, then the kriyā sequence would be – sk nk sk sk.

sk | nk | sk | sk ||
na | nnu brō . va | nī . . kin | ta tā . ma ||
| | | ||
sa mā . | | | ||
 12

And it is the above sequence of kriyā-s, – sk nk sk sk, that we would arrive at for Dēśādi tāla,
namely, T-V-T-T. It is perhaps for this reason that Subba Rao, as quoted above, said, "Thus the practice
of rendering the ādi tāla in madhyamakāla by a beat, a wave and two beats became somewhat popular
twoards the middle of eighteenth century. As this mode of rendering in the continued sequence
resembled the trital of North Indian music which consists of three beats and a wave, it came to be known
as deśya ādi or deśādi tāla."
But we do not appear get any evidence of Ādi-tāla with T-V-T-T sequence of kriyā-s having been in
vogue in the 18th century.

7.3 From the practice in Hindustani Music:

Another possible way of arriving at the mode of rendering Dēśādi is to see the kriyā-s and their
sequence as already discussed earlier.
The Masītakhāni Gata of Hindustani Instrumental Music, mainly Sitāra, has the following format, set
in Tri-tāla.
X | X | O | X ||
sk | sk | nk | sk ||
di ra | dā di ra dā rā ||
dā dā rā - di ra | dā di ra dā rā | dā dā rā - | ||

The Khyāla composition set in Tritāla, in medium tempo, too seem to be set in the above format.
X | X | O | X ||
sk | sk | nk | sk ||
jā | nē na dūṅ . ||
gī . .- rī | mā . yī . | mā . yī - | ||

However the Hindustāni Tritāla the sequence of kriyā-s is two taṭtu-s, one vīccu and one taṭṭu, as
shown below.
1a Tri-tāla: Duration - 16 mātrā-s.
Mātrā 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Kriyā X X O X
Bōla dh dhi dhi dh dh dhi dhi dh dh tin tin tā tā dhi dhi dh
ā n n ā ā n n ā ā n n ā

And hence the Masītakhāni and the Khyāla compositions are said to commence on the 12th mātrā.
Since in Dēśādi-tāḷa the compositions are said to commence on the first aṅga after a lapse of ¾-mātrā
in the case of Dēśādi format and ½-mātrā in the case of Madhyādi format, taking Hindustani format as
the model, we can deduce that the first aṅga was manifested by the Vīccu. Consequently the mode of
rendering of Dēśādi tāḷa would be V-T-T-T, similar to what Sāmbamūrti mentioned.

8 Madhyādi : Interpretation of the name

 13

Subba Rao (1962:98-99) writes in detail on the significance of the term 'Madhyādi'. "the
madhyāditāla is identical with deśādi tāla in kriyā and aṅga ;that is it has also take three beats and a
wave. The liberty frequently taken in the case of deśādi tāla of rendering it as plain ādi tāla in
madhyamakāla is seldom exercised in the case of madhyādi tāla. The eḍuppu of the pallavi in madhyādi
tāla is ordinarily anāgata after one unit, midway between the beat and the wave, corresponding to the
tap of the first finger count in the laghu of the plain ādi tāla in madhyamakāla. This eḍuppu though
typical is not invariable. It is not this particular eḍuppu that serves to distinguish it from deśādi ; for in
ādi tāla the anāgata eḍuppu may be anywhere in the laghu but not after it. The point of distinction of
the madhyādi from deśādi lies in the fact that the anupallavi and the charaṇa of a piece in madhyādi
take their start not in the laghu part corresponding to the beat and the wave but on or just before the
second of the three beats corresponding to the second druta of the ādi tāla. This eḍuppu of five-and-a-
half or six units is uncommon in the usual ādi tāla. It must be remembered that this eḍuppu does not
occur in pallavi but only in anupallavi and charaṇa. The reason for giving the separate name of
madhyādi to a tāla of the same kriyā s as deśādi is to indicate the difference of the unusual eḍuppuof
the anupallavi and the charaṇa. The name itself is indicative of the unusual eḍuppu occurring in the
middle beat or madhyama ghata of the saśabda kriyā of three beats. The madhyādi tāla is not employed
in kīrtanas. It is used fairly extensively in jāvalis."

Subba Rao's description of Madhyādi seems to be based on Jāvaḷi compositions as he does not
relate this format to Kīrtana-s. In the example of the composition 'apadūru', discussed earlier, we find
that the anupallavi commences, to use his words, "on or just before the second of the three beats
corresponding to the second druta of the ādi tāla".

Madhyādi -
V |T | T | T || V |T |T |T ||
. . – a pa | dū. ru ku | lō . nai ti | nē . . . || . . – ca pa | la ci . tta | mu cē . da | nē . . . ||
. .- na pa | | | || | | | ||
anu- pallavi | | || | | | ||
| | | ē . pā . || pi . . . | nā pai dū | re nō kā | ēpāpamu ||
lēka–apa | | | || | | | ||

It is strange that Subba Rao does not recognise the mention of Madhyādi based kīrtana-s by
Cinnasvāmi Mudaliyār.
Sāmbamūrti (1964:106), on the other hand, explains, "Madhyādi is actually Madhya (laya) + Adi.
Compared to Madhyadi, Desadi is slower tempo.". His explanation is not very clear. He attributes
medium tempo to kīrtana-s in Madhyādi format whereas the the examples of kīrtana-s he lists in this
format, namely, 'nāmakusumamula' (śrīrāga), 'mēru samāna' (Mālvagauḷa) seem to display a tempo
slower than that of 'enta vēḍukondu' (Sarasvatīmanōhari), 'Raghunāyakā' (Hamsadhvani) listed under
Dēśadi format.
 14

On the point of tempo or Kālapramāṇa, when Subba Rao (1962:98) says, "It must be borne in mind,
however, that deśādi tāla always implies ādi tāla in madhyamakāla, the most common eḍuppu being
anāgata after one-and-a-half units from the start.", it is not clear if he is talking about the kālapramāṇa
of the tāla or of the song.

9 Dēśādi format: Kālapramāṇa peculiarity at the point of Commencement

In many of the kīrtana-s set in Dēśādi tāla we also observe that in the graha position or the
commencing position, there are two short or hrasva akṣara-s or a long or dīrgha akṣara-s. However the
syallabic time allotted for the two hrasva-s or one dīrgha is only one. In other words the commencing
syllables have to be rendered at the double the kālapramāṇa. This is seen to happen not only at the
point of commencement but after the padagarbham also; and also in the subequent āvarta-s and in the
anupallavi and caraṇa sections too.

na | nnu brō . va | nī . . kin | ta tā . ma ||

sa mā . | | | ||
| | | ||
en | ta vē . ḍu | kon . . du | . rā . gha ||
vā . . | | | ||
| | | ||
brō | va bhā . ra | mā . . ra | ghu rā . . ||
. ma . | | | ||
| | | ||
. . . sa ra | sa sā . ma | dā . na bhē | da . . ṇḍa ||
ca tu ra | | | ||
| | | ||
. . . te li | ya lē . du | rā . ma bha | kti mā . rga ||
mu na . | | | ||
| | | ||
. . . bhu vi | ni dā . su | ḍa nē . pē | . rā . sa ||
cē . . | | | ||

In the above examples, we see

a) 'na' in 'nannu' is dīrgha as it precedes a conjunct consonant; similarly 'e' in 'enta', 'bha' in 'bhakti'are
dīrgha; so is 'brō'.
b) 'sa-ra', 'te-li', 'bhu-vi' are two hrasva syllables.
The musical metre in Dēśādi format, has an average of four hrasva akṣara-s per mātrā or aṅga.
But at the point of commencement and often in the second half of the āvarta, we find two hrasva akṣara-
s or a dīrgha akṣara being rendered in ¼-mātra of time.
There are however, many exceptions.
 15

The point to be investigated here is what prompted such a style. It is possible that the Hindustāni
music Gata metre which had two hrasva strokes in the ¼-mātra time influenced this.

10 Conclusion:
In this paper titled ‘Musical Compositions of Tyāgarāja in Dēśādi tāḷā and Madhyādi tāḷa,
and their Adaptation to Ādi tāḷa’ an attempt has been made to analyse the nature of Dēśādi tāḷa and
Madhyādi tāḷa. Further the adaptation of compositions in these tāḷa-s to Ādi tāḷa have also been
discussed. A few observations are:
1 On the mode of reckoning and on the nature of the Dēśādi tāḷa and the Madhyādi tāḷa, we can say
that, Dēśādi and Madhyādi are not two different tāḷa-s, but two compositional formats based on the
same tāḷa structure with different points of eduppu.
2 T V Subba Rao had expressed that the arrival of this Dēśādi tāḷa in Karnataka music could be
traced to the Tritāla of the Hindustāni Music. This paper examined this and has based the analysis
with reference to that theory of T V Subba Rao. While for the Dēśādi format parallels in Hinduāni
music could be easily had, for Madhyādi further study is required.
3 Regarding the Kriyā-s and the sequence of rendering them, a Wave followed by three Beats, has
been found to acceptable.
4 In the Madhyādi format, two āvartā-s of the tāḷa equals to one āvartā of Ādi tāḷa. In the case of
Dēśādi format, one āvarta of this tāḷa equals one āvarta of Ādi tāḷa.
5 The aspect Padagarbham is a prominent feature and in the Kīrtana-s, the musical emphasis is
primarily on the second Beat, in both Dēśādi and the Madhyādi formats. However in the Dēśādi
format, in addition to the first one on the second Beat, as the music proceeds, there is usually
another Padagarbham on the first kriya which is the Wave. In the case of Jāvaḷi and Tillānā
compositions in Madhyādi tāḷa, the padagarbham is found to be on the fourth kriyā or the third Beat.

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Note:
I thank Dr. N Ramanathan for giving me time to discuss the issues relating to the subject of this article and
permitting me to quote certain passages from his article "Perception of Tāla in Karnataka Music", published in
musicresearchlibrary.net, 2018. http://musicresearchlibrary.net/omeka/items/show/2497.